This is a regularly updated site, in which I review the various albums I own.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Rob Zombie - The Sinister Urge

The Sinister Urge holds a special place in my heart because it was my son's lullaby music. I kid you not it was the only album we could put on in the house that would help him fall asleep when he was a toddler. And even though you would think that it might warp him, I would say it had quite the opposite effect. He's more of a little preppy for my likings, but what are you going to do.

I've heard it said that this was almost Rob Zombie's last studio album. There were rumours circling around just after Zombie released his best of package, that he was about to call it quits, and then came Johnny 5 and the rest is history. I can understand why after listening to this album.

The album opens with Sinners Inc. This is more or less a little soundscape, mixed with music to set up a vibe and feel for the album. It's nothing spectacular, but it does the job perfectly.

Next up is Demon Speeding which is a great high paced rocker, that helps fill the album well, but for the most part doesn't do much for me. I'm sure some people love this track, but by Rob's standards it's a little basic. This is a great driving song, but if you are just listening I find the song feels a bit long.

I find Dead Girl Superstar carries on with the same thoughts I had on the last track, but it doesn't feel as long.

The best part about Rob Zombie is you can dance to his music. Never Gonna Stop (the red, red kroovy) is a great example of this. You can bump. You can grind. You can get your freak on and let your dancing shoes do their thing. Also talk about a song that was created to play live. The chorus alone makes this a concert fave. "Yeah / My durango number 95 / Take me to the home / Kick boots / And ultra live / See heaven flash / A horrorshow / Knock it nice / And smooth / Step back and / Watch it flow yeah / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Yeah / The devil ride / A dinosaur / He paint the monster red / So the blood don't / Stain the floor / In out / Real savage show / Skorry as a shot / Came sickness / Watch it flow yeah / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Scream if you want it / Cause I want more / Scream if you want it / Cause I want more / Yeah / My durango number 95 / Take me to the home / Kick boots / And ultra live / See heaven flash / A horrorshow / Knock it nice / And smooth / Step back and / Watch it flow yeah / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Never gonna stop me / Never gonna stop / Scream if you want it / Cause I want more / Scream if you want it / Cause I want more".

Iron Head features Ozzy Osbourne on vocals as well. This one's got a little groove to it, but it's pretty standard, even with The Prince of Darkness chiming in on the song.

The one song I always tend to forget about when it comes to this album is (go to) California. I always think of this album as being pretty basic and the majority of the songs are similar, with the exception of the few that really stand out. This song does stand out as well, and is a really good song, and once again you can easily dance to it. This song suffers most because of the song that follows.

Feel So Numb is pure adrenaline, high velocity blood pumping, ultra monster stomping, Heavy. It's not Metal, and it's not Rock as most people would think of it. This is one of those songs that describes the Modern Heavy so well.

Transylvanian Trasmissions Pt. 1 is basically another soundscape. It's cool and gives a great vibe.

When I hear Bring Her Down (to Crippletown) I could never tell you the name of the song. I just think of it as the "Beep, beep, beep" song based on one line. It's nothing against the song, it's just a stock track. A Zombie stock track, but a stock track all the same.

Scum Of The Earth is yet another song that I understand why people like it. It's very White Zombie sounding, but that being said is exactly why I really don't care about this track one way or the other. I love Rob solo, and tolerate his first group.

When I first bought this album it was for one song and one song alone. House Of 1000 Corpses is a beautiful, sexy, dark and dirty song that with thrill you with horrifying delight. That's without seeing the movie, that it belongs to. This song perfectly captures the vibe and feel of a movie that had yet to be released when this album first came out. Let's tell you the folk tale of these nasty people. "She had a corpse / Under her bed / She had her fun / But now he's dead / Hear momma said / Come feed desire / Her brother said / Hey, throw her on the fire / This is the house / Come on in / This is the house / Built on sin / This is the house / Nobody lives / This is the house / You get what you give / I cut the flesh / And make it bleed / Fresh skin / Is what I need / I let it dry / Out in the wood / All your crying / Did no good, yeah / Now you're lying / On the floor / Yeah, you can't / Take anymore / The devil's laughing / In your face / Give me another taste, yeah". It then moves into a sound scape and fades out for a minute or two until it kicks back in with the hidden track Unholy Thee, which is a great mix of Heavy music with movie dialogue inserts.

The two big singles on this album were the best choices for singles (Never Gonna Stop and Feel So Numb), House Of 1000 Corspses is still one of my favourite Zombie songs, but other than that to me this album is pretty much basic Rob Zombie. It's not bad, and is really solid, but it's just so overly predictable.

Scum Of The Earth and Demon Speeding were both technically singles as well, but they pailed in comparison, and were just something to throw out on the radio.

I must mention that I always love the production on a Rob Zombie album, and in this case, Scott Humphrey and the main man himself, do a great job with this album.